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Speaking

Hello and thank you for considering me to speak at your event. I've spoken to dozens of organizations and at numerous conferences. On this page, you will find my key background areas, my most requested topics, selected media appearances, and headshots and bios for use in speaking material.

If you would like me to speak at your event, please contact me directly.

My Most Requested Topics

  • Corporation Innovation: How to Build a Winning Strategy to Drive Innovation with Startups
  • Detroit's transformation from the Motor City to the Mobility City
  • 6 Indicators of Startup Success ...and the Secret to Make it Work
  • What Missing out on Investing in AirBnB Taught Me
  • The Diamond in the Midwest: Growing startup communities in the Midwest
  • It's not Verse but Plus: Detroit and San Francisco
  • Lessons Learned from Investing in 50 Startups Across Accelerator, Angel, and Venture Capital Stages

Media Appearances and Conference Talks

I've spoken at nearly 50 events as a keynote speaker, panel moderator, and panelist. My work has been featured in a number of places online. Highlights include:

  • Forbes
  • TechCrunch
  • VentureBeat
  • AutoBlog
  • Detroit Free Press
  • ABC Detroit
  • Fox Detroit
  • CBS Detroit
  • SxSw
  • North American Internationl Auto Show
  • Bosch North American Leadership Summit
  • Elektrobit Innovation Day
Leading a panel discussion on the main press stage at the 2018 North American International Auto Show
On CBS Detroit, Fox Detroit, and ABC Detroit talking about mobility startups, automotive, and the Detroit Auto Show

Key Background Areas

  • Early stage startup investor in 50+ startups across the world
  • Startup investment experience in three different roles: startup accelerator, angel, and venture capitalist
  • Worked with dozens of corporations on corporation innovation with startups, including: Ford, Verizon, Magna, Dana, Honda, McDonald's, Siemens, Bosch, Michelin, Munich Re, AAA, Jaguar Land Rover
  • Lived in San Francisco before moving to Detroit
  • Successful entrepreneur and CTO of a startup acquired by A&E Television
  • Open source developer for 8 years, contributing over 1000+ code patches to the Drupal framework
  • Computer Engineering degree from Cornell Unversity